Oh dear - ponies chasing cat!

Maisie has decided that she does not want cats in her field. This morning I was cleaning out the fields as usual, and I started with the one that the ponies moved out of yesterday. Little Bonaparte (yes, he has a name now!) came with me, and helped by sniffing the bucket regularly.

Then we moved over to where the ponies are, and as soon as they saw him, they chased him out, Maisie leading the way to start but Tiffin soon getting the idea and rushing up front. Poor Bonaparte was terrified - I would have been too if I were his size and three large (to him) animals came charging at me. They did not rest till he was well out of the electrified enclosure, and then Maisie kept watching him where he was hiding in the long grass. Every time he tried to come to me across the field, they went for him. I do not think it was a desire to play, except maybe on Tiffin's part, but I do not want him to get into the habit of chasing cats.

Has anyone ever heard of such behaviour? Maisie tolerated Biscotte well in the stable at Christmas, and seemed to have no problem with her living there before I trapped her. Bonaparte did nothing to the ponies, he only had to move before they charged. He was quite glad to follow me inside and have another bowl of food.

That's him being told!!

I wonder why they reacted like that to him?. Love his name as well Jenny

Poor little cat, I like his name
Perhaps he did something to upset them while you were away

maybe they chase him cause he runs? as in they think they are playing ?
or by chance is one of the ponies named wellingtion?(ok bad joke i know it should duke of hmmm i think his first name was arthur)

No, he was sitting beside me when they first noticed him and ran at him. And it is not a bad joke - but I have another cat named Wellington, who had a brother called Napoleon, whom I lost in October. So I wanted to revert to the theme, honouring one of my historical heroes and my poor little RB boy.

Originally Posted by Anakat

Poor little cat, I like his name

Perhaps he did something to upset them while you were away

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That was my first thought too...

Originally Posted by jennyranson

No, he was sitting beside me when they first noticed him and ran at him. And it is not a bad joke - but I have another cat named Wellington, who had a brother called Napoleon, whom I lost in October. So I wanted to revert to the theme, honouring one of my historical heroes and my poor little RB boy.

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its a great theme, i love it

i just remember, as a kid, my grandfather had several, and they used to chase the dog around. But when the dog stopped running the horses stopped chasing him. SO ,i was just thought maybe.

I guess I could take Bonaparte into the field on a harness and lead, and see what happens. But it could be asking for trouble!

I don't know much about horses. I used to ride, but that was a number of years ago... so I don't know if this is even something you could do...

But I was thinking back to this horse I used to ride named Red. Red would freak out about any little thing... but what got him most was stable noises, like people walking through the stables and stuff.

One day I held him on a lead line attached to his harness and fed him carrots while they had people walking through the stables doing whatever it was they needed to do. He still freaked, but he was hungry so paid more attention to the carrots. We kept doing this over the course of days and it helped calm him down.

So maybe.. and I might be reaching here... but maybe you could hold Maisie on a lead/harness and feed her treats to keep her calm while someone else walks Bonaparte toward the corral on a leash?

Wow, I don't know why they did that. Is Maisie still in protective mother mode with Tiffin? I hope they accept him soon as he seems to love to follow you around.

BTW - love the name - it suits the daring little fellow.